Tank-signal



E. E. PIERCE.

TANK SIGNAL.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 5, 19m.

Patented Jan. 25, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHUT I.

WITNESSES MM 70/? raw {/77 es/ZT/ /Prce aw A M 4 TTORNEY E. E. PIERCE.

TANK SIGNAL.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 6.1918.

Patented Jan. 25, 1921.

SHEET 2.

2 SHEETS- iii;

WITNESSES ,4 TTORNEYS UNITED STATE PATENT OFFICE.

ERNEST E. PIERCE, F TARRYTOWN, NEW YORK.

TAN K-SIGN AL.

Application filed July 6, 1918.

' tion.

This invention relates to signal devices for gasolene and other tanksand has for an object the provision of an improved construction whichmay have an indicating member on the front dash of an automobile or atany other convenient point and electrically operated whenever tliemanually operated switch is'closed for indicating the level of fuel inthe supply tank.

Another object in viewis to provide an indicator electrically operatedwhich will utilize electric current only when giving the signal.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a signaling devicefor indicating the level of gasolene in a tank which includes anindicating mechanism having a plurality of magnets arranged in such amanner that a swinging magnet may be held opposite any particular magnetor opposite a point between any particular magnet so as to give anincreased number of stops of the indicating finger over the number ofmagnets used.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional View through a tankwith an embodiment of the invention applied thereto.

F i 2 is a sectional view through Fig. 3 on ine 2-2.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view through the automatic switch mechanism shownin Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional View through Fig. 5 approximately online 44.

Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view throughthe indicator shown in Fig.4 the .yiew being. taken on line 5.-5.

Fig. 6 is a diagram showing how the various parts operate and how thewires connect the automatic switch magnet and associate parts.

Inusing. tanks for supplying different purposes and particularly in theuse of gasolene tanks for automobiles, it has been found desirable toprovide means for indicating the level of the gasolene. Various meansheretofore have been provided, all of which however indicate at or nearthe tank the level Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 25, 1921.

Serial No. 243,713.

of fluid therein. In the present invention an indicating means has beenprovided for indicating exteriorly of the tank but adjacent thereto 'theamount of gasolene still in the tank and means connected therewitharranged adjacent the seat of the driver also indicating the amount ofgasolene in the tank. These means are arranged so that the pointer atthe tank will always indicate automatically the amount of gasolene inthe tank while the indicator near the seat of the driver will onlyindicate the quantity of gasolene in the tank when a switch has beenclosed.

In thedrawing 1 indicates a tank of any desired kind provided with abracket 2 extending into the tank and carrying at its lower end abeveled gear 3 to which the float arm 4 is rigidly secured, said floatarm carrying a float 5 whereby the beveled gear 3 may move back andforth as the level of the gasolene varies. A beveled pinion 6continually meshes with the ear 3, said pinion be ing secured to shaftwhereby the rotary motion will be communicated to shaft 7 as the floatmoves up and down. Shaft 7 is connected with an automatic indicator 8,which, through means hereinafter fully described, will cause the pointerof the indicator or signal member 9 to indicate on the dial 10 the samefacts as presented by the indicator 8. The indicator 8 is shown in Figs.2 and 3 and consists in an outer casing 11 which is bolted or otherwiserigidly se-.

cured to the tank 1 in such a manner that the center of the casing willbe substantially in line with the shaft 7. (lasing 11 is provided with atop cover 12 which is open at 13 so as to disclose the indications ornumerals 14 (fig. 6). The opening 13 may, if desired, be covered with atransparent mem ber, or the entire cap 12 may be a transparent member,in which case opening 13 would be eliminated. A pointer 15 is provided,said pointer" passing over the d al formed by members 14. This pointeris ri idly secured to shaft 7 in any suitable ner so as to movetherewith. The dial 14' is graduated so as to indicate in gallons or inany other measure the contents of tank 1. An arm 16 is also rigidlysecured to shaft 7, said arm being bifurcated at the outer end so as tosupport the spaced 101V otal pins 17 and 18, which pins carry the bellcrank levers 19 and 20, which levers are normally held in a givenposition by spring 21, which spring causes the contact rollers 22 and 23to re'ss against the shell 24 and contacts carried-thereby, said shellbeing formed of insulatin material, as for instance rubber. This s ell24 carries a single return contact strip 25 and a number of spacedcontact strips 26, 27, 28, 29 and 30.

' The rollers 22 and 23 are arranged in pairs there being a switch 35interposed in wire 33,

said switch being in the form of a push button as shown in Fig. 5, sothat the operator of the automobile may at any time reach over and pushthe button and see by the swinging of the pointer 36 just how muchgasolene there is in the tank.

In Fig. 4 the parts are shown in their neutral or idle osition while inFig. 6 the switch 35 is c osed and the needle 36 is swung to itsoperative osition and indicates that there isthree gal ons in the tankin a similar manner to the way the pointer 15 adjacent the tankindicates the fact that there is three gallons in the tank.

As heretofore described the end of the arm 16 is bifurcated so as tohold the pairs of rollers 22 and 23 spaced apart whereby when the ointer15 is at an odd number the bifurcate end will straddle two of thesegmental contacts so that two of. the magnets 37 will be energized. Asthere are two magnets rigidly connected with the pointer 36 the poles ofthe magnets will come opposite the poles of two of the magnets 37. ncase the "rollers 22 and 23 are both engaging the same segment, as forinstance segment 27,

. only one ma net 37 will be energized whereupon the po es of themagnets 34 will move to a position an equal distance over the dial ofthe particular magnet 37 energized as shown in Fig. 4. In Fig. 4 it willbe seen that the poles of the ma nets 34 are stradeiiug in a certainsense the pole of the first -ugnet 37. If the central magnet 37 was izedthe ma nets 34 would move until. the poles thereof would stradhe poiesof the central ma net and 1 therein) indicate the fact t at there our gaions in the tank. Preferably magnets 34 are provided which are rigidlysecured to the pointer 36 or to the shaft 38 as preferred, the magnetsbeing preferably secured to the shaft as shown 1n Fi 5 so as to bebeneath the face plate 39, w ereas the pointer 36 is'above the faceplate 39 in order to properly ass over the dial 40. If desired, lnsteadohaving two magnets 34 a sin 1e magnet could be used having spaced po eextensions for securing the results just described. 'If desired, theswitch 35 could be held closed continually so as to cause the needle 36to move gradually across the face of dial 40 and continually indicatethe quantity of solene in tank 1, or switch 35 could norma ly remainopen and cause the pointer 36 to ind cate onl when the information isdesired. It wil be noted that the arm 16, contact wheels 22 and 23 arearranged in an insulated housing or casing 24 whereby any sparkingbetween the contacts would not affectthe gasolene, though by providing acontinuous contact by one of the sets of rollers sparking is absolutelyrevented.

What i claim is: p

1. A controller for the circuits of tank signals comprising a casing, ashaft extending into said casing, a switch associated with said shaft,said switch including a continuous contact memberyan interrupted contactmember formed of a plurality of insulated segments, both of said membersbeing in said casing, and a pair of spaced connecting rollers forconnecting said segments with said continuous contact, said spacedrollers being arranged to connect adjacent segments when passing fromone se ment to the other so as to not interrupt the flow of current.

-2. A-controller for the circuits of tank signals comprising a shaft, acasing surrounding the end of said shaft, a pointer arranged on saidshaft, a dial for said pointer a supporting arm rigidly secured to saidshaft, and movable therewith, said arm having a bifurcated end, a pairof L-shaped levers pivotall mounted on each leg of the bifurcated en ofsaid arm, a retractile spring connectin one end of said L-shaped levers,a pair of ro lers mounted on the opposite end of each of said levers,the rollers of each pair being electrically connected, an annularcontinuous contact member adapted to continually contact with one rollerof each pair, and an annular segmental contact member adapted to contactwith the other rollers of each pair.

ERNEST PIERCE.

